IIHF council chairwoman Zsuzsanna Kolbenheyer says the quality of women's hockey around the world is good enough for this step. She pointed to Japan beating Sweden 2-1 in overtime Sunday in the classification round and no team scoring more than eight goals in a game as signs of progress.

Beijing will be the seventh Olympics with women's hockey since it was added in 1998 in Nagano. Either the United States or Canada has won the gold medal each team and are expected to meet in the final again in South Korea.